School Councils and International School Award

School Council

At Horfield, we have a well-established school council.  Its members are elected every year and understand that it is a privilege to represent their peers. This reflects our teaching of British values, with children learning about the importance of living in a democracy.

Council members represent pupil views by making presentations to the governing body and meeting with members of the school association and the deputy head. As the council can influence how part of the school budget is spent, children see that its role is valued.

As a Year 6 school councillor there is a lot of responsibility to be a good role model for younger children. We had to make sure that with our petition for the water fountains we took everyone’s views into account. Also we had to judge the drawing competition fairly so that we took the age of children into account when looking at their skills.’

Eco Council

At Horfield we are passionate about our environment, and recognise that we each have a duty to care for our planet and manage the world's resources wisely.  We aim to develop good habits and behaviours to reinforce environmental education in everyday life and the wider community. 

Our thriving Eco Council, with members from across the school who meet every month, inspires and challenges us. The council encourages us to consider environmental issues such as recycling and waste, water and energy use, transport to school, our outdoor environment and the importance of healthy eating. 

We also have a committed Green Club who meet regularly to practise their gardening skills and maintain our polytunnel.

Horfield was awarded the Foundation level of the British Council’s prestigious International School Award in May 2025 in recognition of our work to bring the world into the classroom.

The International School Award helps and encourages schools to develop: 

• an international ethos embedded throughout the school
• a whole-school approach to international work
• collaborative curriculum-based work with a number of partner schools
• year-round international activity
• involvement of the wider community

Fostering an international dimension in the curriculum is at the heart of the British Council’s work with schools, so that young people gain the cultural understanding and skills they need for life and work in today’s world.

The award prepares young people for life in a global society by increasing their understanding of other countries and cultures, providing a motivational framework for teachers to develop themselves professionally and recognising a school’s commitment to developing global citizenship in young people. 

Currently we are working towards the Intermediate level of the International School Award by showing that we have enriched pupils’ learning with a global perspective by embedding international work into the curriculum.

International Work at Horfield

Horfield’s international work includes a partnership with the Kamurasi school in Masindi, Uganda which has helped the children to understand and appreciate another culture.  We exchange songs and art on a regular basis. 

International Mother Language Day (IMLD) is now a fixture in our school calendar. Recordings of our children introducing themselves or reciting a poem in their home language(s) are shared so every class can hear them. We also have a languages tree with recordings of children singing in their home language or a language they are learning. 

Parents are invited to share their language, stories, and culture with their child's class.  We have also shared the success of our IMLD with other schools at the local Association for Language Learning Primary Hub. 

We have language ambassadors to promote multilingualism and a global ethos within the school.  Our language ambassadors regularly share their home languages with their peers.  During the 2024/25 school year they showed solidarity with the children of Ukraine by inviting a Ukrainian mother into the school to teach them some phrases of the language. 

Across the school we learn Spanish as a world language and our curriculum celebrates the whole Spanish-speaking world. By tracing the language’s spread across the Americas we help children understand the lasting legacy of colonisation.